Asphalt Grinding & Repairs Los Angeles Parking Structure Project

October 26th, 2011

Empire Parking Lot Services uses Asphalt Grinding to Save you Money

If one thing stands true about asphalt repair, its the undeniable fact that no “one size fits all” solution exists, that can fix every asphalt repair problem. Each project we look at has a custom solution that will not only repair the problem, but it will repair it for the smallest amount of time and cost to the customer. Asphalt grinding is a perfect example of one of those custom solutions. Not every job is a perfect candidate for asphalt grinding, however, when it is a good fit, it can save our customers thousands of dollars. This is the case of our project we took on in Los Angeles, California. The project consisted of a parking structure with a paved ground floor level. The asphalt in the driveway was worn and needed to be replaced, however the asphalt in the parking stalls we’re in good shape and the asphalts integrity was still intact. This combination is what lead to the solution we presented.

Understanding Asphalt Grinding

To understand the advantages of asphalt grinding you have to understand the process. Grinding asphalt only removes a small portion of the asphalts surface when doing an asphalt repair. By doing this you don’t have to replace all of the paving that is on the ground in your parking lot. The cost of the asphalt saved can be very substantial over a large area. For our customer instead of replacing hundreds of tons of asphalt for them we were able to reduce it to just 10 -20 tons of asphalt. Also, by reducing the amount of asphalt installed you are also greatly reducing the labor needed on the project as well. Another advantage to asphalt grinding versus replacement is that it restores pavement to a uniform cross-section and longitudinal profile, restores even drainage flow and, it can help in restoring curb-reveal for roadways and parking areas that have had numerous overlays.

 

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is a full scale parking lot maintenance contractor that services the Southern California market for many asphalt repair services including asphalt grinding. Other services we offer include asphalt patching, petromat overlays, as well as total asphalt removal and replacements. Call Empire today to set up an appointment for one of our estimators to look at your asphalt repair project. We service all of Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, and Parts of San Diego & Ventura Counties.

We can be reached toll free at 877-760-2757

 

Reflectorized Striping | Product Spot Light

October 24th, 2011

Reflectorized Striping | Why Property Managers & Property Owners Should Consider it.

Did you know that Empire Parking Lot Services is not just an asphalt repair company? We offer far more services than most Southern California paving contractors, including some of the newest and most innovative products for the parking lot and warehouse maintenance industry. Although we do offer all of the typical parking lot maintenance services, such as asphalt repair, concrete repair, and sealcoating, we also help our customers solve more unique problems such as this month’s featured “product spotlight” on reflectorized striping. Learn more below about the benefits of reflectorized striping, and why it’s not just being used on airports & freeways anymore.

 

About Reflectorized Striping

Since the 1940’s glass beads have been added to line striping on the freeways and roads across the United States. Originally it was added to the lines to help drivers navigate through the blackouts during WWII. But lately, more and more property owner and managers are using glass beads to help reduce the number of accidents that can occur in the parking lot.  The reason for using glass beads is simple, It makes parking lot markings, such as stop and bar stencils and painted center lines that divide traffic, show up much better at night. (see photo below). By adding glass beads to the parking lot striping, the paint reflects the drivers headlights back at them where ever the paint is beaded making it glow brightly and show up much better.

These glass beads make the striping stand out better and in return can greatly reduce the overall safety of your parking area. On the project above located at a mall in southern California you can see a side by side comparison of what the striping looks like with and without glass beads or reflectorizing. Many malls and busy shopping centers are looking for cost effective ways to reduce their exposure to costly litigation. Glass beads over fresh parking lot markings are a perfect fit for that. For just a little bit extra cost you get quite a bit of punch. Furthermore, glass beads really only need to go onto your crosswalks, stops and other critical markings that affect pedestrians in cars and on foot.

 

 

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services offers parking lot maintenance and warehouse maintenance services throughout Southern California. Our service areas include Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, & Orange County. We also offer services to parts of Ventura and San Diego. Our services include asphalt repair, concrete repair, sealcoating, parking lot striping, as well as very unique services such as glass beads or reflectorized striping, truncated domes, safety bollards, speed bump installations and many others. In addition to the parking lot repairs we do each day, Empire also offers warehouse repair services to concrete. These services include striping lines in epoxy paint, acid resistant floor coatings, sign hanging services, and shotblasting, plus many others. Call us today if you have a project that you need help on. We would love to add you to our list of happy customers.

Call us Toll Free: (877) 760-2757

Paving & Pumpkins: Asphalt Repair in The Fall of Southern California

October 19th, 2011

Asphalt Repair for the Fall Season | Southern California

Although Southern California enjoys warm weather and mild winters, there are still many asphalt repair factors to consider in the fall, if you are a property manager or owner. With the summer sealing season wrapping up, many property owners and managers should be looking at their properties for winter repairs. These are the repairs that should be done prior to the winter wet weather. Below is a list of the services that managers and owners should focus on.

Fall Asphalt Repair Services to Focus On

  • Crack Filling / Crack Sealing:Crack filling should towards the top of the list of priorities for your parking lot(s). When it comes to repairing these cracks the method used depends greatly on the cracks density and the edge deterioration, but with the crack filling technology available today, asphalt crack repair can be a fast and easy repair process with very little inconvenience. That is if you have the right contractor to get the job done properly. The main purpose of crack filling is to reduce the amount of water that can seep below the surface of your asphalt, and destabilize the soil that supports the pavement. When water is able to penetrate the asphalts surface it can lead to much costlier repairs down the road. This is the primary reason you want to be sure to get it done before the rains begin.

 

  • Pothole Repair: Just like crack filling, pothole repair is a very necessary service that keeps water from undermining and destabilizing your asphalts integrity. Sinkholes and heavy asphalt depressions are caused when water enters your sub grade and starts to destabilize the surface. Like asphalt cracks, potholes are another point of entry for water to cause this type of damage. Set up a meeting with one of our estimators to walk your property and advise you what types of repairs you need to help maintain the investment you have made into your parking lots asphalt. Pothole repair is very affordable type of asphalt repair and shouldn’t be neglected.

 

  • Parking Lot Striping: Pavement marking lines and stencils can make a significant contribution to highway and parking lot safety, especially in conditions of poor visibility at night or rainy driving conditions. Freshening up parking lot striping and applying glass beads to your striping is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase safety and visibility in these conditions. When it’s rainy outside visibility can drop severely causing all kinds of trouble for drivers. This holds true in parking lots as well as roads and the freeways. Fresh parking lot striping with reflective glass beads can increase visibility dramatically and reduce car accidents as well, and not just in rainy weather, but at night as well.

 

  • Curb Striping: When it comes to big impact for small investments very few services can hold a candle to curb painting. Fresh red painted curbs speak volumes about your parking lot and businesses. They send the message to your customers that this parking lot is safe and in good order. Furthermore, they convey clear directions to your customers on what to do or what not to do in a parking lot, such as no parking, loading, or timed parking areas. With the combination of well painted curbs and a clearly stenciled message your customers are always clear on what is allowed or not allowed throughout your parking lot.

 

About Empire Parking Lot Services

When it comes to concrete and asphalt repair, Empire Parking Lot Services is your best choice for a Southern California paving contractor. Fully licensed & insured with years of experience, our staff and crews have the ability to see your projects through from conception to completion. Our list of satisfied customers grows each day and referrals are available on projects done locally and recently. At Empire Parking Lot Services we run a very transparent company. We blog our projects at least once a week, and well invite customers to speak with our past clients to get there feedback. On average we perform three parking lot service projects a day, so that gives you a lot of people to speak with. So call us, e-mail us, or just come see us. We have estimators available to get you a price on your asphalt or concrete repair related project today.

877-760-2757

Asphalt & Concrete Repair for Costa Mesa Business

October 11th, 2011

Costa Mesa Business gets new Asphalt & Concrete Repairs

Trenching is something that is done every day throughout Southern California. It is typically needed because of plumbing, irrigation, or telephone line issues that arise from day to day. When trenching is needed it’s important to hire a contractor that understands the unique installation requirements of this type of asphalt repair. For one business in Costa Mesa, Ca. these repairs where necessary.  Not only did they need to have some trenches repaired, but they also required some concrete and parking lot striping work to be done as well. Below are some details and information about a typical trench patching project performed by Empire Parking Lot Services. We have created these blogs and videos so that our perspective customers know what to expect when contracting with us. This way they have a clear understanding as to what they can expect on their asphalt & concrete repairs projects when they hire us.

 

About this Asphalt Trench Patching Project

This asphalt repair project is very similar to many of the other projects we do on a daily basis.  We show up to the project, barricade of the work area, and perform the work that needs to be done. But one thing different happens on an Empire Parking Lot Services asphalt repair project.  “We care” …doesn’t sound like much but it’s true. We care about the work lasting, we care about the work looking good, but mostly, we care about what our customers are going to say when they see the project complete.  This is why on asphalt trenching projects we make sure to install the asphalt with the same concern and care as we would on a massive overlay. We do this by installing asphalt in multiple lifts, by triple rolling each patch for maximum compaction, and by ironing edges for a trench patch that will not unravel 6 months down the road. This is not special treatment we offer our customers, this is the only way we know how to do concrete and asphalt repairs.

 

 

 

 

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is not the biggest paving company out there, but we are also not the smallest though. We are the middle of the road company that focuses on quality over quantity.

We Care

It’s not just lip service for us, it is our mantra. Every day we hammer quality into our employees in the field and out to treat the project as if it was their own. We understand that over time for our company to retain customers and continue to grow, it will need to be on the principles of quality and integrity.  Those two words are tossed around this industry like a beach ball at a baseball game. But for us they are the reason we will succeed. Call Empire Parking Lot Services today for a price on your next asphalt repair project in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, as well as parts of San Diego & Ventura Counties.

Call us toll free at 877-760-2757

Asphalt Repair Costa Mesa, Ca. (92626, 92627, and 92628)

Empire Asphalt Paving Company

City of Orange Business Park Gets New Sealcoating and Striping

October 7th, 2011

City of Orange Business Park Gets New Sealcoating and Striping

This week in the City of Orange California, Empire Parking Lot Services was hired to slurry seal and re-stripe a business park located on Batavia. A local property management company in Orange gave us a call and asked us to provide them with a price for their asphalt repair project. They had received other prices, but still where in need of one more price to complete their bid process. We had never worked with this management company before, but knew we could compete, and we are always looking to increase our customer base. We submitted a price to the company and later that week we were told that we had been awarded the contract. The job was promptly scheduled and completed, and went off without a hitch.

 

 

 

About this Asphalt Repair Project

Like all projects, our estimators visits the site before quoting the price, this greatly reduces the chance for any misunderstandings and mistakes that can occur. But our service doesn’t stop there, once a project has been awarded, our production manager will step in as well. He will make a site visit to a project ahead of time, to be sure that any difficulties that could arise are dealt with before the day of the project. This practice is standard on all larger asphalt repair and asphalt sealing projects for Empire Parking Lot Services. We find that these quick visits can help our production team foresee and be prepared for those little nuances that can come up during the project. One thing that our production manager noticed on this project was all of the concrete flow lines on the project. For sealcoating it is imperative that our seal crews know about these things ahead of time. This way our crews can be prepared for them ahead of time. When we showed up to do the project we used a plastic sheeting to protect those concrete flow lines for the tracking and seal on to the concrete with our sealcoating tractors. This project was sealed and re-striped in one weekend. Not bad considering that the project consisted of over 225,000 square feet. The job went off great and the photos are the real proof.

 

 About Empire Parking Lot Services

When it comes to asphalt repair companies we know you have a lot of choices. At Empire Parking Lot Services we really try find ways to stand out from the competition.  Offering attention to details and extra customer services, are just two more ways we succeed at this. It is our thoughts that if we treat a customer’s project right and we give them what they pay for each time we work with them, than our success is eminent. However, at the same time we know we have to be competitive, and that is why we are always looking for ways to save the customer money and time. If you have an asphalt repair project that you would like to save time and money on this give us a call today. We would love to add you to our list of satisfied customers.

Call us toll free at 877-760-2757

Low Bid Asphalt Repair – Why we dont always get the job.

October 3rd, 2011

Low Bid or Low Quality Asphalt Repair?

Every day we receive calls from customers looking to get a competitive quote for their asphalt repairs. Like all good contractors our estimators provide them a price and follow up to see how that price looked. Nine out of ten times our price is in the same ball park as the other contractors at which point it comes down to service, customer rapport, and trust.

Occasionally however, a customer will let us know that our price is out of the ball park. Usually this comes down to someone bidding the wrong scope of work, but once in awhile something is wonky and we have to tell the customer we can’t compete. Now, let’s rewind the clock back to the job shown below. To set up the video let me first explain. Our customer came to us and asked us to do some minor skin patching on his lot that was overlaid just a year before the video was shot. We looked at the project and provided them with a price for the repairs.  The customer had mentioned that he wasn’t pleased with the previous contractor and we assured him that we had integrity. We also assured him his work would be completed just as it was bid, and it was.  However, when our crew went out to clean the parking lot, what we found was this ball of yarn so to speak, and it just wanted to keep unraveling and unraveling. Sadly this happens more often than we’d like to see.

Have a look below

Asphalt Repair Done Wrong

There were so many things done wrong by the last contractor I am not sure where to start. The most blatant is to overlay a parking lot with a quarter inch of asphalt. The customer didn’t state it, but we are guessing that the asphalt repairs were probably bid for a half inch overlay. Also, for parking lot as busy as that one they should have considered a full inch overlay. The second problem is that the parking lot was clearly not cleaned well before the asphalt was installed. This would explain the dirt blowing out of the cracks four feet behind the crew member. Lastly, the parking lot must not have been tacked properly before the paving started. The biggest problem we faced was trying to figure out where to stop peeling up the old contractor’s shoddy work. There was no budget for the removal of the entire project only some minor skin patching. Oh well maybe next time?

 

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is a Southern California paving contractor that specializes in asphalt repairs, concrete repairs, seal coating, and parking lot striping. We offer top quality paving, customer service, and value to our customers. We are not the cheapest paving company, but we are not the most expensive either. Call us today to learn what we can do to get your parking lot back into shape and keep it there. Our company is located in Orange County. From here we are able to service the surrounding counties including Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, as well as parts of Ventura and San Diego Counties. Call us today for a quote.

Call toll free at 877-760-2757

 

 

Granada Hills Shopping Center Gets Annual Parking Lot Maintenance Done

September 23rd, 2011

New Asphalt, Seal Coat & Striping for Granada Hills Shopping Center

This week Empire Parking Lot Services is working at a shopping center located in Granada Hills California. Located near the 405 & 118, Granada Hills sits near Santa Clarita and San Fernando. An interesting fact about Granada Hills that many don’t know, is that famed NFL quarter back John Elway went to school there. He attended school and played football at Granada Hills High. Not too shabby Granada Hills. This Granada Hills project was a large shopping center that was in need of asphalt repairs including patching, sealcoating, parking lot striping, and sand blasting red curbs.

Read more about this project below.

About this Asphalt Repair Project

As mentioned above, this project consisted of several repairs throughout the shopping center. Some asphalt needed to be repaired as well as some sealcoating, striping, and sand blasting. In total we were on the project for about a week. The asphalt repairs on this center consisted of 9 areas that need to be skin patched. The total areas equaled about 1500 square feet of patched asphalt. Once our paving crews were done we sent our sandblasting / striping crew out to do some removal of red curb paint that was flaking and peeling badly and needed to be removed. We like to do these types of removals before applying any new seal coat so that there is no mess on the new parking lot after it’s applied. Once the curbs where blasted and repainted, we came back and applied a fresh coat of slurry seal to the entire center.  When your sealcoating 375,000 square feet of asphalt it takes a few days to get the job done. It’s not a limit in our production abilities, as much as our customers need to keep business open and running during the parking lot maintenance project. The sealcoating and striping of the parking lot was done over a total of 4 days. Once the project was completed our production manager collected the barricades and fixed a few punch list items. All in all, the project went well. There were a few hiccups with the tenants but we worked closely with the management company to see the project through with minimal disruption to them.

About Empire Parking Lot Service

When it comes to a contractor that offers quality asphalt repairs, it’s hard to beat Empire Parking Lot Services. From seal coating to asphalt patching we place a heavy emphasis on quality and long term value. We feel strongly that adhering to these policies will make our customers look better over time, and the property owners we work for save money over time. When Empire Parking Lot Services finishes your project, you can piece of mind knowing that the best possible workmanship and material are being used. Our crews are committed to providing the best quality and service in the industry. We repair commercial parking lots, private parking lots, offer concrete repairs and just about anything you might need on concrete or asphalt.

Call us today toll free @ 877-760-2757

Toastmasters of Rancho Santa Margarita is a Wrap!

September 21st, 2011

Asphalt Repairs at Toastmaster Wrapped Up

This weekend our crews put the finishing touches on an asphalt repair project located at Toastmasters in the city of Rancho Santa Margarita Ca. Rancho Santa Margarita is one of Orange County’s youngest cities. The city of Rancho Santa Margarita is neighbored by the cities of Mission Viejo as well as Lake Forrest. RSM is neat little city off the beaten path in all of our experiences working there the people and business have been great to work with. Toastmasters were no exception.

Now more about the project!

 

If you recall from an earlier post, we had done some asphalt repair at Toastmasters Rancho Santa Margarita location last month. These repairs included the removal of some badly broken asphalt throughout the parking lot. The reason 30 days is placed between the asphalt repairs and sealcoating & striping, is because new asphalt needs to cure before seal can be applied. If new asphalt repair are done and not allowed sufficient time to cure, than you can have issues with the new pavements oils bleeding up through the new sealcoat material after it has dried. At Empire we strictly adhere to these rules on all of our pavement repair projects. Even smaller projects are still typically given 15-20 days before sealing just to be safe.

 

About this Sealcoating & Striping Project

This seal and stripe asphalt repair project needed to be done on the weekend, at a time when the tenants wouldn’t be inconvenienced. Our crews arrived at the project at about 7 am and cleaned all of the dirt off of the asphalt before applying a thick coat of seal. Once the seal was applied the area was blocked off so that no one drove into the freshly sealed area. The seal was left to dry all day, and our crews returned on Sunday to paint all of the parking lot striping as well as repaint all of the red file lanes and curbs. The job came out great and without issue. Take a look at the video for more information.

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is a Southern California asphalt repair specialist that offers quality work with excellent customer service. We believe that sticking to these simple principles we can’t go wrong. As a paving contractor we service small and large projects the same. Same good service, same competitive bidding, and same quality work. If you are located in or near Rancho Santa Margarita give us call. We can provide you with bid to repair asphalt, concrete, sealcoating or parking lot striping.

 

 

Seal & Striping for Placentia Local Business

September 7th, 2011

Empire-PLS Performs Seal & Stripe for Placentia Business

Sealcoating & Striping in Placentia Ca.

This week Empire-PLS performed some Seal & Striping for a local Placentia California business called Lincoln Imports.  They are an importer that has been in business for over 31 years. Lincoln Imports is an importer of seasonal items and home décor items. When they called us they were in the process of getting multiple quotes for seal & striping and crack filling services. Empire-PLS provided them with a quote and we were awarded the project based on both price, and presentation. They basically said that they felt more at ease with us and that is some great feedback.

Seal & Striping Makes Asphalt Last Longer

One of things savvy property owners such as Lincoln Imports understands is that if you don’t take care of your parking lot with annual maintenance, it will cost you much more over time. Annual or semiannual maintenance is the key to keeping your asphalt intact and lasting much longer.

At Empire-PLS, we strictly adhere to what the experts recommend, and those experts are the manufacturers of the sealcoat materials we use.  We work with several major manufacturers including Diversified, Western Emulsions, & Western Colloid.  These companies recommend that sealcoating is done about every three to four years, but also recommend that at that time length, you install (2) coats of seal and not just one.

Many California businesses opt for sealing their parking lots every 2 years with a (1) single coat to spread out the cost of maintenance, as well as keep their parking lot looking blacker for longer.  Some parking lots however will require sealcoating and striping more often that based on their own particular reasons.

For Lincoln Imports it had been about three years and was defiantly time for the new Seal & Striping.  Sealcoating helps protect your asphalt by sealing the asphalt pavement, thus preventing much of oxidation and erosion of the top layers of your asphalt. On older asphalt pavements, seal coating helps by replacing many of the fine particles that get lost from the top of the asphalt surface due to the oxidation process that naturally occurs.

Here are Some Other Benefits you get From Sealcoating:

  • Sealcoating seals the smaller hairline cracks that can eventually turn into larger cracks. Sealing these helps to reduce water from seeping down to the base material and doing damage.
  • Sealcoating also helps protects the asphalt from the sun, as well as the harmful effects of chemical spills such as oil, gasoline, and other petroleum products.
  • Sealcoating allows your parking lot to have a deep dark color allowing your parking lot markings to stand out more.
  • Sealcoating leaves a smooth, clean surface ideal for sweeping, potentially lowering cleaning costs.
  • Sealcoating costs pennies a square foot compared to the dollars needed to repair or replace damaged asphalt.

 

For more information about sealcoating check out this website here, it is the Asphalt Sealcoating Manufacturers Association and has lots of information about sealcoating materials as well as what it means when your sealcoating goes bad.

 

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is a company with just one goal. Our goal is simple in that we want every customer we work with to be 100 % satisfied with our asphalt maintenance services. We believe by meeting this goal, all other goals will happen naturally.  Please keep Empire Parking Lot Services in mind for your next Seal & Striping project, and put our words to the test. Have confidence that in that last few years thousands of our customers have used our seal and striping services without regrets or complaints.  Empire-PLS is located in the Southern California area and services the entire southland area. Please call us toll free with any questions or project that you may have.

Empire Parking Lot Service 877-760-2757

 

NuVision Gets New Asphalt, Concrete, Seal & Stripe!

August 4th, 2011

NuVision of Monterey Park Get a New Look

This summer has been a busy one for Empire Parking Lot Services. With the summer asphalt repair season in full swing, we have been up to our necks in asphalt, concrete, sealcoating, and parking lot striping. For July one of our stand out projects was for NuVision Federal Credit Union, located in Monterey California. Their project was particularly special because of its diversity of services performed. Read more about the new vision project below.

 

A Little Bit of Everything

When Empire Parking Lot Services takes on a project we control every aspect of the construction and repair process for our customers. When NuVision called us they told us that they needed several things done including asphalt demolition, asphalt paving, concrete demolition, new concrete sidewalks, curbs, and gutters, sealcoating, and finally parking lot striping. Our customer’s chief concern was to return the parking lot to its original design.

The overall process for this asphalt repair project was to remove some concrete planters as well as some asphalt , then install some new concrete sidewalks and curbs as well as paving back up to the those areas with new asphalt. The last thing that needed to be done on the project was to sealcoat the lot and re-stripe it. One challenge that we encountered with this project was that the customer required us to leave a few trees standing and that meant working around them without damaging them.  Once we laid out the work areas, we got busy with the removals and hauled away tons of old asphalt and concrete. With those areas clear it was time to form and pour the new concrete sidewalks and curbs. With the new cement curbs and sidewalks done we next did some paving in the areas that needed to tie back into the existing parking lots asphalt paving. With the new asphalt laid all that was left was to slurry sealcoat the parking lot and then paint back all of the lines, handicap markings, stencils and concrete wheel stops.  The customer was please with the outcome of the project and that pleases us.

 

About Empire Parking Lot Services

Empire Parking Lot Services is a fairly new paving company in the Southern California area, however we don’t fall short on experience. Our sales, management, and production teams all have years of experience in their individual areas. Our company’s philosophy is all about customer service. It is Empires passion to meet or exceed our customer expectations on each and every project we perform.  If you have an asphalt repair, concrete repair, sealcoating, or parking lot striping project in the Southern California area coming up that you need help with, please give us call today. We would love to hear from you. Call us toll free at 877-760-2757 for a free estimate on your project.